


A Strange Man

by AbsoluteChonk



Series: Welcome to the "Dante is actually rich but wasteful" AU [1]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Before DMC5, Before The Nightmare (Devil May Cry), Eventual Romance, F/M, First Meetings, POV Female Character, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:20:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28336053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbsoluteChonk/pseuds/AbsoluteChonk
Summary: One phone call from your dear acquaintance leads you to a mysterious encounter with the man inside the secluded shop, whose stare's still burning in the back of your mind
Relationships: Dante (Devil May Cry)/Reader, Dante (Devil May Cry)/You
Series: Welcome to the "Dante is actually rich but wasteful" AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075088
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	A Strange Man

**Author's Note:**

> fellas, I present you the work I've been planning for awhile. I know Dante's a wild character, but I want to bring out the romantic side of him. Besides, I need to warm up to continue the other work of mine. So enjoy the prologue and I'll be back with more of this series.  
> PS: let's not talk about the debt since the exact amount isn't canon

"An agreement letter? For what?"

You put your cup down as you proceed your colleague's request. It was strange, considering Mr. Morrison is way more experienced in those kind of business.

The man in front of you inhales the smell of his black coffee contently, strong and tart aroma tickles your nose as he blows the dark liquid before taking a sip.

"Well, I need it fo' the sake o' formality so I won't ask ya to write the terms down ta detail."

"No, I mean," You fidget your button while trying to come up with the right word, "... Why bother paying me for this? I'm not a public notary."

Mr. Morrison brushes his chin lightly, absentmindedly look to his right. “The reason I asked you 'tis because it’s unnecessary to involve the law, and I know ya since y'were in college. I trust ya enough to take care o' it."

"Oh." You blushed, hearing such words from him is unbelievably rare.

" _Besides, I don’t think he’d understand complicated word_.” He mumbled, you raised your brow but he quickly clears his throat, “Anyway, it’s for my ol' pal who works with me. Let's say he's an agent I frequently hire fo' business."

"So um... What kind of agreement should I make?"

"Just write simple terms fo' him ta clear his debt, impose him a fine when his payment's overdue. The fine is about 10% from the monthly bill, and he must clear 'em within 8 months."

"Alright, how much does he owe you?"

He thought for a moment, "... 'Bout 4 digits."

"What?!" Your eyes widened, "that's— _that's a lot of money_ , you can't just give him this informal agreement, he might be able to run away from it—"

"That's why I trust ya to take care of 'tis matter," He stopped you before you could continue, "I trust him enough ta settle his debt, he's an ol' friend o' mine."

You pressed your lips into tight line, of course, silly you to think that Mr. Morrison would hire such an unfitting person to take care of this matter if he didn’t trust that person.

“Okay, understood.” You scribble down his request on your small notebook along with all the terms he just stated. “May I know his name?”

“His name's Dante.”

You waited for him to continue, but seems like he stopped after ‘Dante’.

“Just Dante? No last name?”

“Yea, he has none.”

Confusion creeps in the back of your mind, it sounded more like codename rather than real name but you decide not to ask further.

“Anything else you want to add?”

He inhales slowly before release a long sigh, a well-known sign of him reconsidering his decision. You waited patiently, leaning your ballpoint onto the page of your notebook. The black ink gradually seeped into the white paper, the dot is big enough to be seen on the back of the page.

“I need a favor, would'ya do it fo' me?”

A visible surprise crossed your face, _a favor?_

“Sure, anything you need.”

“Deliver this agreement to him as my trustee, and,” he paused for a moment, absentmindedly brushing his chin. “I want ya to help him plan his finance.”

“Hold on—” you interrupt, “—you asked me to be his accountant?”

“Nah, just help him manage his money, and don't let him waste 'em.”

You can’t help but furrowed, Mr. Morrison quickly catches the doubt in your eyes.

“I’m sorry to pry, Mr. Morrison but does he have a gambling addiction or something else? Because he sounds… improvident.”

He chuckled, “No, none o' those bad traits.” He sips the remaining coffee in his cup before setting it down, staring down to the coffee residue at the bottom of the cup. “He just… doesn’t know the importance o' money.”

“Oh, I see.”

He places both of his elbows onto the table and fold his hands. You quickly pick up the sign, _no more question._

“I—um, I will help you. Can you give me his address?”

“It’s in the corner o' the street near the residential area. Once ya arrived, ya’ll see his shop.” He shakes his cigarette pack before nips on one stick that pops out. He carefully lit up the cigarette before puffing a thick white cloud.

“The name’s ‘ **Devil May Cry** ’.”

* * *

You weren’t sure if the printed papers in your hand is strong enough in case of lawsuit, but you’ve written more than enough for a simple agreement so you put your hesitation aside.

Arrived at the main road of residential area, you looked around. The city appearance’s just like what you thought they’d be; classical buildings, gothic churches, bricked road, and lots of diverge route. Mystery hangs heavily in the air, it is said that these atmosphere is the one that lure people to this city. The chilly wind of March caresses your cheek, leaving a hint of the remaining winter on your skin.

Based on Mr. Morrison’s direction, the shop must be around here.

You look around, but as far as you can see, it’s just the same classical building with no signs. Pale wall colors and monotone decorations giving away unwelcome vibes for those who are unfamiliar with the city.

The uneven path in this town is, without a doubt has strained your legs. You silently curse yourself for wearing high heels for the visit. Not knowing the exact location of the address doesn't help either, what if you took the wrong street?

But uncertainty quickly morphed into relief as you saw the unlit neon sign in the corner of the street, ‘ **Devil May Cry** ’.

You picked up the pace as you walk closer to the tall door, hoping the owner would let you rest for a bit. The gloomy office stood before you, but strangely welcomes you.

The door doesn’t have door knocker hanging, you look around to see a bell or anything that might notify the owner of visitor’s arrival. In the corner of your eyes you saw two yellow trash bins overloaded with white square boxes, _pizza boxes_.

There’s no other garbage except pizza boxes, and a few crumpled papers. But that was all, nothing else. _Weird_.

You were too distracted by the large amount of pizza boxes that when you turn your head to knock, the door is already open with an old man emerges in your sight. You let out a shriek, dropping all the belongings in your hand.

“Shit, miss." He strokes his scruffy jawline, "Did my beard scares you? Sorry I haven't shaved this morning."

“What—?” You squinted at his words

He looked down to your feet before drops one knee down, gathering the things that just slipped out from your hand. You quickly snap out from your shock and help him gather up. He just smiles as he hands your belonging back, you thanked him for the help.

“So, what brings a lovely girl like you here? Need a devil to be slain?”

You furrowed your brows, “Devil? What do you mean?”

“No?” he scratches his chin, looking at you from head to toe. “Hmm… Then why did you come here? Are you a new local Mormon? You do look like one.”

A vein pops up on your forehead, “I’m sorry if you expect one, but I’m not.” You clear your throat and slip your hair behind your ear, “I came here as Mr. Morrison’s request to have you sign an agreement, are you Dante?”

“Whoa… Okay.” He leans his hand onto the door frame, showing an exaggerate surprise on his face. “You sure you came to the right place? I mean, there’s a lot of ‘Dante’ out here, you might've knocked on the wrong door.”

“I’m sure I’m in the right place. Mr. Morrison already gave me the right direction.” You pretend to look up to the neon sign on top of the door, before you look straight to his eyes. “Besides, I’m sure there’s only one shop that named ‘Devil May Cry’.”

The man in front of you rubs his face, chuckling in disbelief. “ _Fuck_ … he wasn’t kidding.”

“So if you may, will you let me in?”

“Uh, sure.”

Reluctantly, he makes a room for you to let through.

“Thank you.”

As the first click of your heel on the floor echoes, a strong musty smell invade your nose. You quickly cover your nose.

The ‘shop’ you just entered smells like a buildings that was abandoned a long time ago. It’s strange, everything about this shop is strange. It’s too dark even though it’s in the afternoon, and the room is almost too bare with only one set of sofa and one desk in the center of the room. There's also a lot of empty bottles and papers scattered on the floor, the whole room looks like the hall of a shipwreck.

“That’s a nice perfume you wear, I can tell it’s not a cheap one.” He winked as he closed the door behind you.

Nervousness begin to creep on your spine, but you quickly shove it aside.

_Relax, nothing bad will happen to you._

You follow him to the longue. You were glad you could finally rest your feet, but the further you walk into the room, the more suffocating the smell is. You grip your brown envelope tighter, the air in this room can’t be healthy for anyone in the long term.

_But_. You glance to the man in front of you, he looks healthy, no, extremely healthy. His posture isn’t slouched, his built is quite muscular, and his face—His face looks strangely young, yes there’s a few wrinkles but it didn’t make him look older.

You set your thought aside as he gestures you to take a seat, you carefully put down your things on the coffee table before sitting on the leather sofa. The dust on the surface flew when you plopped down to the seat.

“Go ahead, tell me about it.” He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “Though I already know what it’s all about.”

You snort, “Well, basically it’s about your debt to him. He asked you to clear it within 8 months.”

He lets out a chuckle, shaking his head. “Okay, okay. Just leave the letter here and I’ll read it later.”

“No, Mr. Morrison personally asked me to explain the agreement to you.” You pull the letter from the brown envelope, setting them down on the table. “And I need to witness you sign the letter, Mr. Morrison already signed it so it only need your signature to be valid.”

“If I didn’t sign it, it wouldn’t be valid right?” You shot him a glare, “I’m just kidding! No need to be all serious.”

“I’ll read the agreement first before the terms, shall we begin?” you wait for him to answer. He nodded and you continue,

“The amount of debt you owed to him is $5,284.” You catch him lifts his eyebrows at the reveal, “he demanded you to settle the debt within 8 months, which makes the monthly bill you obliged to pay is $660.5.

“If in some circumstance you are unable to pay in due time, you have to write extend debt payment request to him in 1 week prior. If you fail to pay and request for extend the payment, you’ll be fined with 10% amount of monthly bill. Do pay in mind that if you’re late to pay for 3 months, Mr. Morrison will cut off his business relation with you.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait for a second.” He shakes his head, “cutting off his business relation with me? Isn’t it too far for a threat? It can’t be serious.”

_Bingo_ , a weak point.

You shrugged nonchalantly, “you know him. He’s not the type who’d mess with anyone.”

“He really said that?” You nodded, “… Fuck.”

He rubs his face with both of his hands, sighing loudly. Certainly, he doesn’t want Mr. Morrison to abandon him, and that should be the reason why he panicked upon hearing the threat. You're glad he respects Mr. Morrison as well as you do, at least he’s not an ungrateful person.

“Alright, it’s fine.” he smacks his thighs with a hard slap, you flinched at the sudden loud noises. “So, what’s next? It’s only the agreement right?”

“Um, yeah. Here’s the terms and condition.” You look down to the letter, “One, this agreement—“

“Just make it simple, I don’t have much time.”

“Right.” You popped a vein, “first, you must agree and sign to this letter. Second, you must follow the rules that's written in this agreement. Third, if Mr. Morrison is gone, or cannot be contacted, the debt must be paid to his legatee.”

He received the letter you handed to him, his brows furrowed deeply at the long paragraphs. Flipping the letter to the next page, he only scanned it for a bit before putting it down onto the table. Pretty sure he didn’t read anything at all.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” You stated while rummaging through your bag to search for a pen. When your hand came in touch with a cold, slim cylinder object, you quickly grab the thing and hand it to him. “But before we get into that, you must sign the letter first.”

He took the pen from your hand, purposely brushing his calloused fingers on your palm. He gave you a cheeky smirk before he bit the cap off and scribble down his signature on the paper.

You took time to study his face, and you were right about him having his youth well-preserved. His eyes is still full of vigor, and he has a pearly white teeth. The feature of his face is still strong, anyone can tell he has a high cheekbones despite his hair covering the side of his face. You can't deny he's quite attractive.

The flick of his lashes freeze you for a second, he had caught you staring at him. You quickly avert your eyes, but then embarrassed at how obvious your reaction was.

“Never seen a guy like me before?”

“It’s not that!” You exclaim, “It’s just—you look far younger for your age.”

“Come on,” he chuckled, “I’m still in my 40s.”

“No way, it’s…”

“Impossible? I got this grey hair from my genetics. It’s always been like that since I was a kid.”

“Oh.” you blushed, “pardon my rudeness.”

“Don’t apologize,” he pops the cap back to the pen, extending his hand for you to take it, “I like the way you talk frankly about it.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” You accept back your pen, furrowed slightly at the twin horizontal dents on the cap.

He snorted in amusement.

“So,” you clear your throat, “there’s one more thing Mr. Morrison asked me to do, he told me to help you manage your… finance.” You saw confusion in his face, “I’d like to see your record book.”

“Uhh, sorry to disappoint you missy, but I don’t have one.”

“What?” You widen your eyes, “you don’t have a book for that?” He shrugged, shakes his head to be more convincing. “Then how did you record all of your expense and income?”

“I never did.”

“Alright, how much do you earn per month?”

“I don’t know, it’s always random. Either I got a small bundle or one big suitcase.”

“How about all the receipts or bills? Do you keep it?”

“I threw them away, why bother to hoard those things.”

“ _Shit_.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, no record book, no bills, nothing. 

This can’t be serious. You silently hoped he’d cackle up and say he was lying but he didn’t show any of that. You sigh in defeat, there’s no way you could plan his finance without any legit information.

“Okay… Let’s work this out together.” You brushed your hair to the back, “I need you to do these things for me, please keep all the bill you receive. Also, I want you to write down your income so I’d know how much you need to save and how much you could spend.” You thought for a moment, “And… maybe I need you to save some of your income for this week. I’ll review them in the next week.”

“As your wish miss.” He winks, you ignore him.

“Do you have any question? Anything that you don’t understand?”

He strokes his stubble slowly, letting out a long ‘hmm’. You sucked a breath, preparing yourself for the difficult questions.

“Tell me, what’s the name of your perfume?”

“.... _Huh?_ ”

Confounded by his question, you found yourself doubting your ability to hear for the second time.

“You know, I was distracted by it the whole time. So I thought maybe if I wear it, I’ll be able to distract other people as well.”

Recovering from your surprise, you can only conclude that the friend of Mr. Morrison is an outrageous flirt.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, it’s a secret.”

“Huh,” he grinned, clearly enjoying your response. “Now you really tickle my interest.”

“I guess that’s all.” You stated as you begin to pack up your thing, putting the agreement into the brown envelope. “I’ll send you a copy tomorrow.”

“Leaving so soon? We were just getting to know each other.”

“From what I remember, you were the one who don’t have much time.” Trying to counter his flirt, you begin to think this man is the type of guy who’d only brings sweet troubles to a girl’s life. _Handsome face, careless attitude, and charming_. 

As you excuse yourself from him, you begin to wonder what kind of life he has. When you walks out from his ‘shop’, you only saw a few things that were hidden by shadows before. A jukebox, pool table, an old fridge, a broken TV in the back of corner, an small neon sign of 'Devil May Cry', and some boxes stacked together. Nothing for display, nothing personal—except maybe a small photo frame on his desk.

When you bid him a goodbye in the front door, he only smiles and said ‘ _be careful_ ’. Inhaling the fresh air after leaving the dusty shop, your mind wander back to your earliest thought. Mr. Morrison isn’t the type of person who’d make a deal if he wasn’t certain it would goes well. So his decision on asking Dante to clear his debt within 8 month means he’s sure Dante is able to pay him back.

_None of those bad traits your ass._ If Mr. Morrison was very certain he could pay $660.5 for a month, then he must’ve earned more than that—which only means he usually spend a lot as well.

Out of curiosity, you looked over your shoulder. When the shop came to your view, you saw him still standing in front of the door, still in the same position even long after you two parted.

Even from a distance, you can still see him wears his playful smile.


End file.
